


Tank-Team

by Talimee



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Goodbyes, Humour, Post-Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 21:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6256921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talimee/pseuds/Talimee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their mission is over, separation and departure loom ahead. What better time to have a last adventure?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tank-Team

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Stand Still Stay Silent Fan-Forum Fic Exchange. The promt from Aierdome was as follows: Back at Admiral Olsen's rig, Tuuri decides to steal one of the mega-tanks and makes a few crewmates help her with that. Up to you whom she convinces to go, when this takes place and whether they succeed or not.
> 
> I am not a native speaker of English, so please tell me when something's terribly wrong.

Tank-Team

 

Petty Officer First Class Nilla Svensen was dimly aware of the door to the combined mess-hall and bridge control room opening and closing but she firmly kept her gaze on the tableau before her. This evening she had chosen the table furthest from the door so any draft created by that door opening and closing shouldn't be able to reach her place anyway. She shook out her arms and reached for the last two cards. In front of her and in the centre of attention from the bridge control crew was a five-tier card house. It was the tallest she had managed to build for weeks and tonight, she had sworn to herself, she would break her own record of building a complete deck of cards into a card house. She slowly extended both hands and carefully set down the Ace of Spades and the Seven of Diamonds. No one in the room was consciously aware of a deep rumbling that had started a few seconds ago.

 

~*~ earlier that evening ~*~

 

Reynir found Tuuri eventually on top of the visitor's platform, propped up on the railing with her elbows and staring morosely out over the sea. It was so unlike her usual optimistic self that he hesitated to disturb her but an instant later Tuuri stirred and turned around.

“There you are!” Reynir said and smiled hurriedly. “I was looking for you.”

Tuuri smiled back but Reynir could see that her heart was not in it. “Did I miss debriefing? I didn't know I was gone so long.”

“No, no! Everything's fine. Someone came around and told us that the train from Mora was delayed so debriefing is postponed until it arrives.” They stood in silence for a moment. “Are you all right, Tuuri?”

“Yes,” she said and turned back to look at the sea. It was getting late afternoon but the sun was still high up in the sky. Now, in June, it would take several more hours to set and the nights would never be completely dark even this far south. She saw Reynir lean himself on the banisters out of the corner of her eyes.

“I'm sorry, Tuuri, but I don't think you are.”

A jolt pierced through her and made breathing difficult. She needed several seconds to be able to speak again. She turned to him and met his honest gaze. His hair had become even redder in the summer sun and she could spot the last remnants of a sunburn across the bridge of his nose. She felt she owed him an honest answer.

“I'm sad that our adventure is soon over,” she said. “In a few days each and every one of us will head in different directions and we might never see each other again. After the time we spent together I think it's cruel to break us up! And what about Kitty? Who is going to take care of her and will she miss the others?” She needed a few moments to calm down. “I will miss you all terribly. And I miss the Tank.” The last words were only whispered as she was half-ashamed of missing a lifeless vehicle. But to her the Tank had never been lifeless! It had its little ways you needed to know for it to work along with what you were trying to do. There had been days when it went along as smooth as if on rails and on other days it had been a pain to get it to turn a corner. The Tank had been their home and their companion. It had been witness to their triumphs and defeats and it had always sheltered them. It had broken Tuuri's heart when they had to leave it behind on the coast in Denmark, all alone and surrounded by the ruins of the Old World. It had been as hard as leaving Onni behind in Keuuru.

She flinched as she felt a ginger pat on her back. “I'm sorry to hear that,” Reynir said. “And I'm really really sorry that I can do nothing to help.” He really looked sad as he said this and somehow this made it a tiny bit better. Tuuri felt a smile tug on her lips.

“Thank you,” she said.

“But, you know,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood, “no one knows what the future holds and we should always hope for the best: That we will meet each other many times, that nothing will change between us and we stay friends forever and that we might return to the Silent World one day with a remedy in hand.”

How could anyone stay sad when Reynir said something like this?

“And what do we do until that far-away-day happens?” she asked playfully.

He thought about it. “How about a stroll around the station? You didn't have much time for sightseeing the last time you were here and I have never been here at all! Just imagine! Merchants from Bornholm, engineers from Sweden and warriors from Norway! What an exciting mix!”

Tuuri laughed now. “Sometimes you really act like an excited puppy!”

Reynir sobered as he heard that and Tuuri was ready to kick herself for being so insensitive but then his smile returned, if a bit wry, and he shrugged it off. “Once I set foot on Iceland I will likely not leave it again for some years – there is the Academy for once and my family who have unanimously vowed in their letters that they will stop at nothing to prevent me running off into the wilderness again.” He smiled again. “Better see and experience as much as I can now.”

“Then we better start at the docks,” Tuuri said and led the way.

 

~*~

 

“... And here's the hangar where Sigrun nearly demolished a wall on our way out. See that oil-stain – I think that was her.” They had arrived at the uppermost level of the base again and were ambling through the garage of big and bigger tanks which were parked under their separate canopies. Tuuri was growing wistful again at the visual reminder of their journey's start and Reynir was simply dumbfounded with the enormous size of the parked vehicles. He couldn't believe his eyes when he stepped next to a wheel to see that it was nearly twice his height. It was amazing to think that humans could build and steer machines like this!

“What are you two doing here?” came a gruff voice from behind and they spun around to see Sigrun and Mikkel stepping around the corner of one of the maintenance shacks which were littered here and there for storing away engineers or spare parts. Odd to run into them here, thought Reynir, as they both did not strike him as taking-a-walk-types.

“I hope you're not planning to canoodle in that thing?” Sigrun added with a wink at Tuuri who blushed furiously. Of course, after nearly half a year Reynir did understand almost everything the captain said and Basic Body Language was enough to fill in the gaps. Nevertheless, Mikkel felt compelled to translate for him: “Sigrun hopes you two were not planning to do anything that would risk your purity of mind and body.”

 _'Oh, Freya!'_ Reynir groaned inwardly. He had had led a sheltered life, yes, but he hadn't been _that_ sheltered!

“So,” Sigrun continued when she had laughed at them enough. “What were you really doing here? Stealing a tank?”

Tuuri went very still for a moment. “You mean as a last celebratory jaunt of freedom until I'm dragged kicking and screaming back to my boring old job? I would never attempt anything like that,” she said with a voice that seemed to come from a long way off. “Of course.”

“Of course,” said Sigrun with an odd blank face. “And I, as your commanding officer would never point out the possibility of such a thing.”

“Not to mention,” Mikkel chipped in, “that holding Tuuri and Reynir accountable to any actions they do would be difficult since Tuuri is a member of a foreign military and Reynir a civilian and exploiting that weakness of protocol would be abominable.”

Reynir's gaze travelled from one impassive face to another.

“So …” said Tuuri slowly, “If I … was to climb … these handrails … here and reach under the engine hood where the hydraulic lever is and pull it, just like this, and the door would get open, just as it does now, it would certainly be only for demonstration purposes, of course.”

“Of course.”

“And if I climbed inside the cabin and looked behind the sun shade … or inside the glove compartment … or under the dirt mat …” They heard a jingle. “It would only highlight the necessity of following security protocols which clearly forbid leaving the spare key in the tank.”

“What are you doing?!” Reynir cried with mounting bewilderment but no one answered him.

“And if you don't wait for ten minutes before starting up that engine you will find the gate-bridge to Öresundsbron open.”

After a moment of silence Tuuri stuck her head out of the cabin. “What?”

“Double negatives, Sigrun,” whispered Mikkel loud enough for everyone to hear. “Don't and won't.”

“Who cares!” Sigrun answered. “Give us ten minutes, Fuzzy, before you start that thing up and we'll have the bridge-gate open for you.”

“You're not coming with us?”

“Nah. Like Mikkel said: You're the foreigners and we have our careers to think of. I, at least,” she added. “And I have a tab to settle with you and this is the perfect moment for it.” She pierced Mikkel with an iron stare.

“Oh, dear. I thought we were over the mutiny-issue?”

“Yeah, that one time – not the others.” Sigrun grabbed Mikkel by his collar and dragged him after her. The Dane seemed to complain to her all along the way but, oddly enough, did not make any attempts to break free.

“What do we do now?” Reynir asked Tuuri when they both were alone again.

“We take a drive.”

“You're not serious.”

“Weren't you the one who wanted to experience as much as possible?”

“Yes, but –”

“Get into the tank!”

Reynir quickly climbed up and shut the door behind him. “And now what?” he mock-grumbled. He knew he was being goaded but could not deny the spark of excitement he felt. Tuuri leaned back into the driver's seat as to become less visible from people outside but kept a firm eye on the cockpit clock. “Now we wait.”

 

~*~

 

Both cards were just touching at their tops and Nilla carefully let one go to see if it would be stable. It stood. Now the sec –

“YOU MELTED CANDLES INTO THE FOOD?!”

“Only into yours. It probably was still a superior fare to what you Norwegians eat normally.”

“I knew it! Never trust the cook!” Someone was literally spitting those words. Nilla suspected the Norwegian Captain they housed at the base at the moment but did not look up from her cards. Only battle-honed reflexes had prevented her from twitching when the screeching started and she still held the last card stationary.

She still held the card when she heard a meaty punch and her table got knocked over from a heavyset man tumbling against it. Hours of concentration destroyed in an instant as cards blew away in every direction. She couldn't believe it! Her fist clenched around the card she still held. Then she threw it down and looked up with murder in her eyes.

“WHO DID THIS?” she bellowed. She had the pleasure of seeing a fleeting shadow of concern in the Norwegian's eyes which was replaced almost instantly with battle-lust.

“Come on, if you think you're hard enough,” the red-haired Captain purred.

Nilla stood up. Her head brushed the ceiling.

 

~*~

 

“ _There!”_ they both shouted in unison as the small metal bridge which was the link between Admiral Olsen's base and the actual Öresundbridge was lowered. Tuuri stepped down with full force on the gas pedal so that the tank, which she had been idling, jumped forward. They narrowly avoided colliding with the other tanks or sheds and had cleared the garage in seconds. People came running from all sides to look what the racket was but jumped ashen faced out of the way when they saw a multi-tonned-monster swerve towards them. Tuuri put the foot down even further and was rewarded with a new burst of acceleration. The bridge came nearer … nearer … and they were through! She exhaled in a burst and only then realized that she had been holding her breath. The bridge wound up to the horizon before her, a silvery-grey band framed by heaven and sea.

She wound down her window and yelled with joy.

“We did it, Reynir!” she yelled and turned around to him. A grin was playing around his mouth and she got the feeling that he had been watching for a while. She felt herself falter a bit at the attention but in the end only smiled back.

A lot of repair work had been done, she could see, since they had crossed the bridge last winter. Although some it looked like quite shoddy it made driving on the bridge way easier than it had been before, so she leant back into her seat and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. It did not take long for them to reach the gap where the bridge had collapsed after them. Here also were the signs of construction work, albeit more serious one, when the nearby parked off-duty oil-platform was any indicator. She took her feet of the gas pedal and let the tank roll out and soon it came to a standstill.

One tank, the evening sun, a deep-blue sea and a sky ready for a glorious sunset. She smiled again at Reynir and slipped out of her side of the cabin. He hurried to climb out, too, and when she started to walk towards the gap he walked with her. Somehow their hands found another as they came to stand at the edge of the Known World, looking out at Denmark.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and drew a deep breath. “I WILL COME BACK!”

Wind came up and caressed her cheek. It smelled of tang and salt and oil.

And a promise.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I now officially ship Sigrun and Nilla.


End file.
